John Deere's Waterloo operations recently began a $1.6 million addition to the company's T-10 building at the downtown Westfield Avenue site. The 46,000-square-foot addition to the 257,000-square-foot building is the first element of a massive $127 million redevelopment of the Westfield site over the next several years.

“While the expansion of the T-10 building represents a minor portion of the capital improvements being made to our existing facilities, it is the most visible sign of John Deere's redevelopment efforts and commitment to Black Hawk County,” Deere Waterloo operations spokeswoman Mindy Westendorf said.

The redevelopment plan represents the largest investment by Deere in Waterloo-Cedar Falls since the company branched out from the Westfield Avenue site in the 1970s and early 80s.

Much of the initial work will be at the Westfield Avenue site. The existing 10 buildings there will be replaced with four renovated or new structures, as the company converts its manufacturing facilities from a multi-story to a single-story operation for machining, axle, transmission and heat treat work.

Some buildings at the Westfield site will be demolished, the company said. Others will be made available to the nonprofit Waterloo Development Corp. for utilization as part of the WDC-city of Waterloo Riverfront Renaissance downtown redevelopment plan.

Tractor chassis, cab and final assembly lines at the Donald Street plant will be redesigned and re-equipped with new technology — including automated fabrication and welding — and geared more toward built-to-order, just in time delivery orders. Company officials call it “lean manufacturing,” as opposed to traditional mass production. Officials project roughly a 20 percent increase in tractor production over five years.

The T-10 expansion project is anticipated to be completed in the spring.